Progression of Color
by ladybug114
Summary: "Stiles is five years old when he sees color for the first time." A soulmate AU featuring Scott/Stiles, with some Scott/Allison thrown in


**A/N: Short little soulmate AU for you :) Mostly Scott/Stiles, with a little bit of Scott/Allison**

Stiles is five years old when he sees color for the first time.

He doesn't understand what it means. He just knows that suddenly everything is beautiful—the sand, his toys... And the boy sitting in front of him. Stiles doesn't know what the color is, but he knows that the boy caused it to appear.

So he smiles. "Hi," he says, "my name is Stiles. Let's be best friends."

Stiles is six when he learns that not everyone can see color.

He's shopping for clothes with his mom, realizing that most of the shirts he used to own look exactly the same- none of them have that brightness he has learned to love. His mom keeps showing him shirts, but he turns them all down... Until he sees one.

One shirt in the entire store that is bright and happy, and Stiles runs to it.

"I want this one, mommy," he says, and his mother looks confused.

"Why this one?" she asks, and Stiles struggles to explain.

"The other ones all look the same and I don't like them," he answers after a moment, and looks up at his mother, praying she'll understand.

She does. "You can see color," she says, with a hint of awe. "At only six years old. That's called color, honey."

Stiles smiles. He still doesn't know what 'color' is, but he likes it. But then he realizes something about what his mom had said. "Can everyone see it?" he asks, concerned. "Can you, mommy?"

She smiles and ruffles his hair. "No, honey, not everyone can. I've been able to since I met daddy. When did you start seeing it, Stiles?"

Stiles smiles, glad that his mother can see color too. "When I met Scott."

Stiles is eight when he learns that color might disappear one day.

His dad comes home from work with a bouquet of pink flowers and that sad look on his face that Stiles knows is mirrored on his own.

"I thought..." his dad says, haltingly." I thought we could take these to mom today."

Stiles swallows. He hasn't visited mom since the funeral, and he's not sure he wants to. But something else is bothering him. "Dad," he says, quietly, "why did you get pink ones? You know mom likes orange."

Stiles watches in horror as his dad's eyes fill with tears. "Stiles," he answers, just as quietly, "I can't see color anymore."

Stiles is eleven when he learns what seeing color really means.

He's at school, English class, and they're reading a story. It mentions color at one point, and one of Stiles' classmates raises his hand.

"When will we see color?" he asks, and the rest of the class looks up at their teacher intently.

She smiles at them. "Color," she explains, "is a very special thing. For most of you, colors won't appear until much later in your life. You see, color appears when you meet your soulmate. The person who is perfect for you in every way."

Stiles glances at Scott, who is sitting next to him, and wonders if his best friend can see color too.

Stiles is thirteen when he tells Scott about color.

They're at Scott's house, playing a video game. It's a racing game, one they've played hundreds of times before, and Stiles picks the same car he always picks.

Scott looks at him curiously as he scans through all the other options. "Why do you always pick that one?" he asks.

Stiles smiles. "Because it's the only red car. Red is my favorite color."

He's afraid he said the wrong thing when Scott stares at him, eyes comically wide. "You can see color?" he asks, and suddenly Stiles realizes that he has never told Scott.

"Um... Yeah," he says, suddenly floundering for words. "I've always been able to, for some reason," he lies, and he's not sure why he does it.

Scott accepts the explanation with a shrug. "You're lucky, then," he says, sighing. "I wish I could see color."

Stiles' heart sinks as he realizes the true meaning in Scott's casual statement.

Scott might be his soulmate, but he apparently isn't Scott's.

Stiles is sixteen when his best friend's world lights up.

He knows immediately, of course. He can read Scott like a book, always could, so he sees it in his eyes when Scott looks at the new girl.

Scott isn't just in love. He's met his soul mate.

Stiles tries to be happy for his best friend, he really does, but he wants that look in Scott's eyes to be directed at him. Not at Allison, who smiles, but not like her world is exploding in beauty and wonder.

Not like Scott looks at her, and not like Stiles looks at Scott.

Stiles is almost seventeen when Scott's love for Allison is returned.

Apparently Allison gained color gradually, as she got to know Scott, as they started dating. Now she looks at him the same way he looks at her, and Stiles has never felt so alone.

Stiles is seventeen when his best friend's heart breaks forever.

Scott only had color for a year, only got to see the beauty of the world for twelve short months.

Stiles isn't even there when Scott's world fades to black and white- he's in a creepy tunnel, dying.

But Scott has already lost his soulmate, so Stiles knows it won't matter if he dies, not really, especially if it will save Scott. But he doesn't die, and Scott doesn't either, and now Stiles has to watch his soulmate live without color.

Stiles is almost eighteen when the color fades, and it's the scariest moment of his life.

Scott and Kira and Malia are dying, and Stiles knows how to save them.

But the door is shut, and Scott is silent, and the color is fading.

Stiles watches in horror as his sweatshirt slowly turns gray, as his shoes lose their color, as everything turns darker.

"No, no, no," he mutters, helplessly. "Please not Scott. Please."

And then he hears movements behind the door, and glass shattering, and the color comes roaring back. The door opens, and Stiles staggers to his knees as Scott emerges, weak and traumatized, but alive.

And Stiles realizes that he can't imagine life without Scott McCall by his side.

Stiles is twenty the first time he kisses Scott.

They're rooming together, in an apartment not far from Beacon Hills, and Stiles is slightly drunk, so maybe it doesn't count, but it's wonderful.

And Scott doesn't pull away.

When they finally break apart, Stiles sees that Scott's eyes are closed. When they open again, Scott gasps.

"What?" Stiles asks, worried.

But Scott is silent, starting at Stiles with wide eyes, and... Crying?

"Scott, what is it?" he asks again, putting a hand on Scott's shoulder.

"I..." Scott starts to answer, and then falters, obviously overwhelmed. "Your shirt," he says finally, "it's my favorite color."

Stiles' mouth drops open, and then he smiles, happier than he has ever been. "You can see color again."

Scott nods, smiling back, eyes shining. "Yeah. I can see color."

Stiles is twenty, and finally knows that he is Scott's soulmate, just as Scott has always been his.


End file.
